Future students may have to set their alarms fifteen minutes earlier.  Among other options,the school board has been looking into starting the school day ahead of schedule due to congestion on North Shore Drive and student sporting events occurring close to the end of the school day. As the district continues to grow, the traffic both in the street and in the parking lots will only increase. Pushing the time back was discussed for the current school year, but the decision was not made. Before this change will be enacted, the school board will notify the parents for feedback on the topic.

“It seems to be Human Nature to fight against change. I believe that there will be some parents, students, and staff members who would not be in favor of making the change, but in reality we are only talking about a fifteen minute adjustment to the starting and ending times,” said Al Leber.

The time change would only happen to either the high school (middle school combined) or the Elementary.

“Starting the earlier would mean I would lose sleep and I really wouldn’t appreciate that,” said Taylor TenNapel.

The fifteen minute earlier start time would not help what the average teen is said to be suffering from, sleep deprivation. Walking by a classroom and seeing at least one student nodding off is not an uncommon sight in most high schools. Sleep deprivation at any age can lead to many things such as the sleeping disorder insomnia, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, aggressive behavior, impatience, drowsiness, increased intake of caffeine, and even weight gain. Students now more than ever have more distractions such as social networks and homework that keeps them from getting to bed.

“I think I get around four hours of sleep a night. I’m taking three college level classes and I’m always up late studying. It’s a circle, staying up late to finish homework and  then waking up early the next day to do it all over again,” said senior Jade Hofer.

A mix between classes, homework, afterschool jobs leaves little time for the needed nine hours of sleep required for a teen to be fully rested, to reach their maximum potential. However, this isn’t always possible. Studies have shown that as an adolescent matures their biological clock slowly pushes back the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone that causes tiredness, causing the student to be unable to doze off at an earlier time than their normal late night sleeping pattern.

“I get up before six and I come home after nine at night some days. Some nights I don’t have homework, but I’m so used to going to bed after midnight that it’s hard to go actually fall asleep early,” said student Alyssa Hunt.

The effects of the lack of rest visibly show in both a teen’s academic and athletic performance. Humans absorb information both in and out of the class room. Your brain goes through three steps when storing something in your memory. First is receiving the information, then the memory becomes solidified or stable, and last comes your ability to recall or to access said information. The step where your memories are actually stored and consolidated takes place during rest. It all moves in one big loop. A tired student has a lack of focus decreasing their ability to take in information, then doesn’t sleep leading to information being lost, and lastly turns into the inability to recall.

 “I doubt I get the amount of sleep that I should. I have too much to do and I get tired in class a lot,” said Riley VanDeSteeg.

While some students have a large homework load, others just don’t get to bed due to distractions like the television and the computer. According to pewresearch.org, 73% of American teens take part in a social network or blog. This can take up hours of time without realizing it.

“Some students are stretched too thin and have too many pressures. Others just choose to go to bed earlier,” said teacher Stacey Haag, “really working in study hall and at school will decrease the time students have to spend on it at home.”

For optimum focus and energy it is suggested that students head to bed with enough time to get in a full nine hours, and to attempt to fall asleep at the same time every night. So, if at all possible, log out of Facebook and head to bed.